THIS IS ROBERT TALKING . . . Or, the Dark Side of Etiquetteer :-)

1) Arrested by this sentence from Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet during this morning’s devotional: “For it is not lethargy alone which causes human relationships to repeat themselves in the same old way with such unspeakable monotony in instance after instance; it is the fearful shying away from any kind of new, unforeseeable experience which we think we may not be equal to.” It is the fearful shying away from any kind of new, unforeseeable experience which we think we may not be equal to. It is the perpetual dilemma. That sentence stopped me cold.

2) Mother died six weeks ago and a day, and it feels like nothing has changed. Because the rhythm of my daily life continues as it did before and, as I've said before, I feel like I have no time to think. But of course things have changed.

3) Today is my unscheduled day this weekend; in the battle of dry cleaning (closed on Sunday) vs. yoga (only on Sunday), yoga won out for a change. A day to write, to clean, to think, to sort, to plan. I’ve been up since just before 6 (because, and I’m not kidding, I went to bed at 7:30 last night), had devotional and first breakfast, and I already think it’s late. Onward!